After several months of negotiations, France and the United Kingdom have agreed to renew the Sandhurst Treaty for the next three years.
The agreement signed in 2018, which aims to prevent illegal crossings of the English Channel, was extended for the first time in 2023 and expires in 2026.
British authorities will be able to provide funding of up to €766 million over three years, but this will include a so-called “flexible part” valued at €186 million, conditional on the effectiveness of the measures taken.
London is therefore guaranteed to pay €580 million, an increase on previous contributions of €540 million.
The number of police officers dedicated to monitoring the Channel will also be doubled, rising to almost 1,400 by 2029.
A Republican Security Corps (CRS) unit, financed by France, will also be dedicated to the fight against illegal immigration and will be enforced with drones, helicopters and other electronic resources.
On Thursday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and his UK counterpart Shabana Mahmood are set to visit the construction site of an administrative detention centre in Loon-Plage, near the northwestern city of Dunkirk.
Foreign nationals subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) will be detained there until their scheduled deportations.
An estimated 41,500 people crossed the Channel to reach the United Kingdom in 2025 by small boats, commonly referred to as dinghies, according to UK officials. It is the second-highest figure since these crossings began in 2018.
France claims that since the beginning of the year, arrivals in the UK have halved compared to the same period in 2025.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the “landmark agreement,” saying it “takes things further by strengthening intelligence, surveillance and presence on the ground to protect the UK’s borders.”
He also added that the collaboration between the UK and France has “already prevented tens of thousands of crossings.”
In the summer of 2025, a new deal, known as the “one-in-one-out”, or Operation Hillmore, was signed between the two countries.
The agreement allows London to return some small boat arrivals to France while admitting an equivalent number of migrants from France who have not attempted to cross into the UK.
Read the full article here